Joe Firstman bought an $18 cross-country Greyhound ticket from his home in North Carolina to Los Angeles, arriving with a beat-up guitar and head full of songs. He quickly found the big stage. It all happened quickly: first came the big Hollywood gigs, then the industry buzz, then the big deal with Atlantic Records and national tours with big rock stars like Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Willie Nelson.There was ego and excess and beautiful ladies and music, music, music. Firstman wrote it all down and sang his songs like his life depended on it.

“In the songs of Joe Firstman, sensitive young men prowl the hills of Los Angeles, searching for fame and beauty, only to find self-destructive behavior and egos gone wild…” wrote Jim Farber in the New York Daily News. “While Hollywood’s peaks and pitfalls have been prominently charted by songwriters from Don Henley, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne to Warren Zevon, Firstman aims to reinvent the milieu for his own generation.”

When the world stopped spinning, he’d landed a regular gig as the bandleader on the “Last Call with Carson Daly” show. For four years, this was his university – playing and writing songs in whatever style the show’s musical guests played and learning how to engage a studio audience, day in and day out.

Firstman released his 7th studio album, “Swear It Was A Dream,” on September 6, 2011. The album features 10 new songs written and recorded over the last year in studios in Charleston, SC, Mexico, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Of the album, Firstman shared, “You can really feel the year in the record, you can feel the whole journey in there and it’s my best piece. It’s my best thing thus far.”

The album’s first single, “Who’s Turning Your Light Out?” is Firstman’s exploration of straightforward, unadulterated songwriting. “It was just a very personal lyric, but I tried to make it into a pop song that everybody would get. Its got lyrics about South Carolina and falling asleep with your head in your hands—I thought the imagery was relatable, “ says Firstman.

“Swear It Was A Dream” is the follow-up to Firstman’s two 2010 releases, “El Porto,” and “Live At The Treehouse,” both released on Rock Ridge Music. In 2009, Firstman’s full-time, four-year job as bandleader on “Last Call with Carson Daly” ended when Firstman shifted his focus to his independent musical pursuits. Prior, Firstman put out a full-length (“The War of Women”) and an EP (“Wives Tales”) on Atlantic, plus another full-length (“DrAma”) and live EP (“Live at The Sandbox”), which were released independently.

As Firstman was wrapping up “Swear It Was A Dream” in Nashville, he formed a new band with longtime friends and collaborators Jaron Lowenstein, Toby Weaver, and John Lloyd, dubbed “Cordovas.” Their debut, self-titled, album features all new songs written and produced by Firstman in his first efforts at writing for a full-band and three part harmonies. Additionally, Firstman is currently producing Lowenstein’s forthcoming solo album.

On September 3, 2011, The Cordovas launched their first US Tour, featuring a solo Firstman as the supporting act. The Cordovas tour wraps November 15 in Yakima, WA and Firstman will immediately jump into his tour with Zach Myers (Shinedown, The Farewell.) Firstman usually spends over 200 days touring per year and has shared the stage with such acts as Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Willie Nelson.

“Kick ass and take names” – it’s a saying that they like to use in Chicago, the birthplace of the Tom Fuller Band, to describe how to get the job done. Not in an Al Capone way you understand. Although Tom’s grandmother did work for the notorious gangster. But rather by enlisting some of the biggest names in the music industry to produce Fuller’s third studio album Ask. On first listen you can…’t help but be decadently seduced by the voodoo drums of the opening track Lovers, hooked on the impossibly contagious title track Ask and carried away by the closing magical escapism of Garden Dreaming Days. Ask is an album that continually manages to surprise, challenge, captivate and inspire. Tom Fuller is a maverick and a troubadour. He’s also the same guy who, as a kid buying his first Paul McCartney album, never imagined that he would wind up recording the new album with two of his band members, Abe Laboriel, Jr. and Brian Ray. Produced by the studio maestro Rick Chudacoff, (Alison Krauss, Smokey Robinson), and mixed by Cenzo Townsend and Dave Bascombe (U2, Bon Jovi, Kaiser Chiefs), the widescreen cinematic vision of Fuller’s music continues to flourish, as was evident on his 2005 debut album Chasing An Illusion and 2009’s subsequent sophomore album Abstract Man. After trailblazing a path across America, the addition of new band members, and recording in both LA and Chicago, comes this life affirming album that is at once emotional and engaging. ‘It’s been a one hell of a journey,” says Fuller. “The new album’s like a songbook that’s accompanied me all along the trail. Every track means so much to me. I think it’s my strongest collection of songs to date.” Hailing from the Windy City, the Tom Fuller Band embodies the soul and creative energy of the city’s rich musical heritage – from Chicago’s finest rhythm and blues, through Cheap Trick to late period Wilco. The songs embrace Fuller’s distinctive blend of innovative melodies and chord structures, alongside lyrics that engage, uplift and resonate with passion and truth. “a fresh rock album with a lot of surprises! ” – www.germanblogs.de “for those who are waiting for the first shafts of sunlight, we can advice this album!” – www.metal-inside.de “9 of 12 Points / With ‘Ask’ and for a fan of Mainstream Rock the Tom Fuller Band has released an album which must be definitely put on the top of your shopping list!” – www.soundbase-online.com Tom Fuller Band’s third album, Ask, is quite simply, a great pop record.” – Birmingham Sunday Mercury Fuller can hang and bang with the best of them, but dances away before you can get a bead on him, leading you on swathes of melody to somewhere you always wanted to go. The perfect summer album? Getting there. Only one thing to ask: “Have you got the new Tom Fuller album?” – PowerPlay Fuller’s songs are a mix of dreamy pop and 70s rock guitar. The title track has echoes of Dion, but it’s the sound of the Beatles that permeates much of the album. Shades of Cheap Trick and Tom Petty… this is one for people who like well crafted pop rock.” – Fireworks Magazine